Tony Glover, director of policy at the Energy Networks Association, said legislation had made a “real difference” to securing UK infrastructure.
He emphasised the need for “continued adequate enforcement” and stressed that any focus away from this could lead to “a resurgence of metal theft” which would impact livelihoods, vital supplies and risk lives.
Speaking at the first International Crime and Policing Conference, home secretary Theresa May explained that, before the Act, there was a “no questions asked” culture among “unscrupulous” scrap metal dealers, and a set of criminal sanctions which were rarely used and “offered little more than a slap on the wrist”.
She said: “With that understanding, we put in place a range of targeted measures from legislation banning cash payments for scrap metal to increased penalties.
“Home Office research shows the result has been a dramatic drop in metal theft, which has fallen by around a third between 2012/13 and 2013/14.”